dissimulation
Other forms: dissimulations
The noun dissimulation describes the act of faking your true feelings. Your dissimulation of happiness might fool strangers but your close friends can tell it's all an act.
The word dissimulation implies that the wool is being pulled over someone's eyes, or they're being fooled or tricked by someone's deceit. The origin of dissimulation is the Latin dissimulationem, which means "a disguising or concealment." Don't confuse dissimulation with dissimilation, which describes the act of making something different or less similar.
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the act of deceiving
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synonyms:
deceit, deception, dissembling
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types:
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fakery
the act of faking (or the product of faking)
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indirection
deceitful action that is not straightforward
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chicane, chicanery, guile, shenanigan, trickery, wile
the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
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double-dealing, duplicity
acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another
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cheat, cheating
a deception for profit to yourself
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delusion, head game, illusion
the act of deluding; deception by creating illusory ideas
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feigning, pretence, pretending, pretense, simulation
the act of giving a false appearance
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impersonation, imposture
pretending to be another person
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obscurantism
a deliberate act intended to make something obscure
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bluff, four flush
the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards
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take-in
the act of taking in as by fooling or cheating or swindling someone
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dupery, fraud, fraudulence, hoax, humbug, put-on
something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage
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jugglery
artful trickery designed to achieve an end
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gerrymander
an act of gerrymandering (dividing a voting area so as to give your own party an unfair advantage)
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appearance, show
pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression
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make-believe, pretend
the enactment of a pretense
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affectation, affectedness, mannerism, pose
a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
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masquerade
making a false outward show
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type of:
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falsification, misrepresentation
a willful perversion of facts
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Copy citationVocabulary lists containing dissimulation
In this classic novel, set in the late 19th century, Lily Bart tries to cling to her tenuous position in New York City's high society.
After his father dies, Nicholas Nickleby accepts a job at a disreputable school.
In this influential essay, Mill examines the nature of liberty as it applies to the individual and society as a whole. Read the full text here.
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